Countless Ways to Fall
by Sieg the Mage
Summary: Where Haruto aimlessly studies Biology until he finds out what he wants to do in life and L-Elf does remarkably well in terrorizing students. Or Where Haruto copes with his man-crush – meaning to say that he's in denial – and L-Elf still does remarkably well in terrorizing students.
1. Where a Meeting is in Order

"The entirety of the world – how it has worked and how it will continue to work – can be divulged by numbers, calculations."

Haruto had taken the class because he felt that, if there was a three-hour gap in his schedule in between his lab classes, he would have definitely taken that time to go back to the room he shared with his upperclassman from high school, Kyuma, and he would have gone to sleep and he would have, as sure as the sun rose from the east, definitely missed his next class.

"It doesn't take a savant to reach to this conclusion."

Then Shoko would whack him on the head for having no time management skills at all. And Shoko, even though she was a girl, wasn't gentle enough, meaning she wasn't gentle at all – except when she was cooking. She was _nice_ of course, but she roughhoused with the boys like she was one of them.

"What it does take is an observant mind and persistence. Which is exactly what I expect from each and every single one of you."

Haruto wasn't really, you know, the manliest man in the world.

"Now, for those who have yet to hear of me, listen up because I will tell this once and only once. I, unlike the other professors who teach this course, will not hesitate to give you a failing grade should I deem it fit. I do not offer special projects for those who wish to catch up with the class average."

It was supposed to be an easy class, really. It was supposed to pull up his GPA for this semester. But then it was just his luck that he had _that_ professor. Nobody even knew he was teaching one of the Advanced Logic courses this semester; as far as every student in S University was concerned, his schedule was supposed to consist of only terrorizing Engineering students.

"Attendance will be optional. All requirements, however, must be passed _on time_. If you're even a second later, it won't be accepted regardless of whatever excuse you can think of."

There was always the option of switching classes, of course, but Haruto had never been fond of backing out of things he'd started. He liked finishing things.

"Please read through today's handouts. Class will be dismissed early today for those who wish to shift to other classes."

* * *

Notes: College AU with bite-sized chapters! Thank you for reading! :D

Unrelated Note: I really, really had to write something funny because, man, Valvrave's last episode made me bawl like a little baby.


	2. Where there is a Lack of Sugar

_From the experiments described and carried out, it can be garnered that the proposed means of extracting and harnessing energy from micro black holes are viable, cheaper alternatives_.

04:37:56

L-Elf massaged the bridge of his nose. He was finally content with his paper – twenty-pages of discussion regarding other, more practical means for harvesting energy from MBHs – for the Annual Physics Symposium. It had taken approximately a month to research, a week to write, and three days to edit.

At times, he missed being an undergraduate; back then, he would have been able to finish this in less than a month. His previous schedule was more flexible.

Now, he was confined to his work hours. Undergraduate classes from eight to two with a break in between for lunch, thesis consultations from three to five, a graduate lecture class from six to nine. Sometimes he wondered why he took on such a large load – his co-workers opted for eight hours or less – only to remember that he _liked_ working.

And L-Elf didn't like a lot of things.

He stood up from his swivel chair. He stretched and felt his bones creak and his joints pop. He padded his way to his kitchenette and poured himself another cup of coffee. This would be his tenth cup that night, and this would be his third night running on little, little meaning thirty minutes, to no sleep.

He drank his coffee, and felt his tongue hiss and his throat burn.

Scaldingly hot. Without a single shred of sugar.

Just the way he liked it.

He put down his mug – large and white and something A-Drei had given him to congratulate him for making the teaching post all those years back; as if they could expect anything less from a Karlstein – and thought of buying himself a newer coffee machine. One that came with more functions he could fiddle with.

A glance at the clock on top of his fridge – the queerest thing about him was that there were clocks everywhere in his house – confirmed that four minutes and seventeen seconds had passed since he deemed his work up to par.

He still had time to re-evaluate this week's lecture notes. Or he could sleep for more than an hour then prepare for his first class.

He went back to his PC with his coffee mug.

His day-off was tomorrow anyway.

* * *

Thanks for the follows! :D Since most updates will be pretty short, I'm guessing around one to two days per segment?

If you're interested by black holes and maybe harnessing energy for them, you definitely can't go wrong with Hawking! If I remember correctly, the basic premise would be that as you shrink/evaporate black holes, they emit more radiation.


	3. Where There are Realizations

It was Wednesday when Haruto decided to give Shoko a visit in her new workplace. She had just gotten hired a week ago, right after they'd entered their second year. She was intent on having some semblance of independence from her father. To put it simply, she was interested in earning extra pocket money to spend more on cooking utensils and extra readings which would further her knowledge in her field.

She was a dutiful student and Haruto sometimes envied her for her sense of purpose.

The coffee shop she worked at was a few blocks away from their S University. It was also right beside Haruto's apartment.

The shop had walls made of red bricks and a roof made of wooden tiles of varying dark hues. There was a chimney at the side that wasn't at all being used, though that was probably because it wasn't cold enough to start using fireplaces yet. The frames of the windows were painted green and the window sills were home to small, colorfully decorated pots that had flowers in them. The door was made of wood and had, as Haruto found out when he opened it, a small bell attached to it.

It was a homey little place that reminded him of the cottages he'd seen in fairy tale books. The floorboards were made of wooden blocks. There were lamps everywhere: on the ceiling, on the corners, there were some on the tables. The tables were all circular and the chairs were all plush red armchairs.

There weren't that many customers. Probably because it was eleven in the morning and most people were either in their classes or still sleeping.

"Haruto!"

And Shoko, with a bright and friendly grin on her face, was on the counter. In front of her was the cashier, which felt a little off considering the décor, and beside her was a cabinet that featured various cakes. Behind her were four chalkboards that had the menu written on them.

"Good morning," said Haruto as he walked towards where she was. He returned her grin with a smaller smile. She was always a little bit more vibrant than most people.

Shoko asked, "What'll you have?"

Haruto looked up at the menu. There were so many choices.

"For starters, I'd recommend our Breakfast Blend and strawberry cheesecake," said Shoko with a wink. "They're my favorites."

"Okay, I'll have them," he said.

She rung up his order and said the price which made Haruto realize why the shop was frequented by a lot of students. Just the right price for a student-friendly budget.

She gave him his receipt and told him to wait for a bit as she got his order. While she was fiddling with the lock on the cabinet, she asked him, "Do you know Mr Karlstein?"

"Yeah," replied Haruto. "I have him for Philo." He grimaced as he remembered that he still had to read those handouts from two days ago. Handouts being fifty pages of introduction, which the professor had written by himself, to whatever it was they would be talking about.

"You don't sound too good." She placed a plate with a slice of strawberry cheesecake on his tray. She grabbed a cup from one of the cupboards that hung right below the menu. "He's here right now, you know."

Haruto blinked. It took a few seconds for him to fully process just what Shoko had said. He leaned on the counter and said in his softest voice, "What?" His eyes were wide with disbelief.

Shoko daintily put his coffee beside his cheesecake. "He's asleep," she said. Her eyes shifted to the right. She smiled again. "You might want to check it out. It's like, I don't know. It's kind of weird seeing a professor sleeping in a place like this." She laughed. "I'm taking over someone's shift later as well so I get out at five today. Do you want to grab some dinner with the others as well?"

"Yeah, sure," said Haruto, sounding distracted. "Thanks."

He picked up his tray and went to the right. He sat on a corner table and when he looked up, he saw the only other customer on this side of the shop.

Then he sort of understood a little bit why a lot of girls wanted to go and sit-in his class.

Professor Karlstein – graduated with his second PhD at the age of thirteen or something – was seated on another corner table. A half-eaten bagel and a still steaming cup of coffee were on his table. On his lap was a thick hardbound book. His head leaned on the edge of the armchair.

He was, indeed, asleep.

He looked, for lack of a better term, beautiful. He looked like he felt at peace there. He looked like he belonged in a magazine.

He wasn't an intimidating professor with standards so high they were legendary. He was more like a normal student, who was just somewhat prettier than most students.

Suddenly, the professor woke up with a little jump. He blinked the sleep away from his eyes and pulled his cellphone from his pants pocket. His brow creased as he glared at the screen. He placed his phone on the table and picked up his coffee.

He looked up.

And their eyes met.


End file.
